The present invention is directed to air conditioners and, more particularly, to a control box for a room air conditioning unit.
Air conditioning units such as so-called "window room air conditioners" are commonly used for residential and similar applications and generally include closed refrigeration circuits having an evaporator and a condenser. The unit is normally divided by a partition into an evaporator section and a condenser section. The evaporator section communicates with the room air to be conditioned and the condenser section communicates with external air such as outdoor air. Refrigerant flows through a refrigerant circuit absorbing heat from room air at the evaporator and discharging heat energy to the external air at the condenser. The conventional refrigeration circuit is completed by the addition of a compressor, an expansion device, and the appropriate connections between the components.
Such an air conditioning unit usually includes a basepan supporting all of the components and an outer housing surrounding the entire unit. The front of the evaporator, or indoor section, includes an indoor grille, which has openings therein for directing warm indoor air into the evaporator and discharge openings therein for directing air back into the room. The outdoor section of the housing includes a plurality of openings in the sides and top thereof, which serve as inlet openings for cooling air which flows into the outdoor section and outwardly therefrom after passing through the condenser coil, which is mounted vertically in the back of the outdoor section.
The indoor grille also includes an opening therein for the control panel upon which are mounted control knobs, buttons, switches, and the like for facilitating adjustment of the air conditioning unit's function and temperature output. The control panel and the control components associated therewith are typically mounted to a control box for the unit in which are housed other components associated with the electrical system of the air conditioning unit.
Because it is considered desirable to make an air conditioning unit of a given cooling capacity as compact as possible, it is also considered desirable to optimize the use of the available space in the indoor section of an air conditioner.